▶ Chapter 46. Throughout the Duel (1)
It was Han Dongju.
He was definitely approaching this way.
What do I do?!
I could use the Hidden Power item.
But Han Dongju would immediately notice.
More importantly,
the owner and the two customers had already seen my face.
Staying still is the best option.
A short while after I reached that conclusion,
Han Dongju entered the street stall.
“Han Meow!”
“I prefer being called by my actual name.”
Han Dongju winked at the female customer who screamed after recognizing him.
The woman blushed happily.
Meanwhile,
my fist tightened.
Do not swing it! Pretend you’re flustered!
I widened my eyes as if surprised and looked at Han Dongju.
Then I naturally turned my head away.
“Haha, you don’t need to be shy.”
Was that directed at me?!
I lowered my tightly clenched fist under the table and looked downward.
While I desperately waited for my udon,
the two customers finished eating.
They got Han Dongju’s autograph, took photos with him, and then left.
Han Dongju sat down.
And of all places,
he sat directly across from me.
I continued pretending not to notice him.
“Here’s your udon.”
“Thank you.”
I took the bowl and quickly picked up my chopsticks.
Ugh, I can’t even tell if this is going into my mouth or my nose...
Actually,
that was not true.
“It’s delicious!”
The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
The noodles were perfectly chewy.
The broth was overflowing with deep savory flavor.
“Right? The udon here is seriously good.”
Han Dongju smiled and casually started talking to me.
I nearly answered naturally!
“Ah, yes....”
“I’ve been begging the owner to tell me how he makes the broth for a while now, but he refuses. Sir, are you still not going to tell me today?”
The owner grinned.
“If I don’t tell you, you’ll keep coming back.”
“I’ll keep coming even if you tell me!”
“Then why do you need the recipe?”
“There’s someone I want to make it for myself.”
Somehow,
I felt like I knew who he meant.
I became strangely embarrassed.
“Oh, are you dating someone?”
“No! Ugh, why did I suddenly get chills...?”
Han Dongju shivered all over as if a giant cockroach had just crawled across him.
I suddenly wanted to do the exact same thing.
No,
for a second, I almost felt like throwing up.
No! I can’t do that after eating something this delicious!
I barely held it back.
“Thank you for the meal!”
I suddenly stood up, handed over the money, and left.
As I walked away,
I could feel Han Dongju’s gaze on my back.
Thankfully,
and naturally,
Han Dongju did not follow me.
The owner placed a bowl of udon in front of Han Dongju, who was deep in thought.
“Eat before it gets cold.”
“Yes, thank you.”
He answered, but his eyes remained fixed on the direction the female customer had disappeared.
“What’s wrong? Did you know her?”
At the owner’s question,
Han Dongju thought carefully.
A small and thin woman.
She had been slightly cute, but not especially beautiful.
Still,
something about her had strangely caught his attention.
And more importantly,
The sneakers she was wearing.
They were extremely worn out.
Judging by the size, they were around 240 millimeters.
They were imitation versions of a famous brand.
A model made only for women.
The same sneakers HunterAnham had worn when resolving the Rank 9 Break at Olympic Park.
Could it be?
HunterAnham’s home, the three brothers’ former Safe Room Number 1, was nearby.
Still,
there was no way they would randomly meet like this.
More importantly,
HunterAnham was rich now.
Because the National Tax Service could track her, she could not freely spend huge amounts of money.
But realistically,
after becoming that rich, there was no way she would not even buy a new pair of sneakers.
“No. I’ve never seen her before.”
It probably was not HunterAnham.
Of course,
Han Dongju’s Luck stat was incredibly high.
But he did not think it would affect something like randomly encountering HunterAnham.
What Han Dongju wanted his Luck stat to work hard on was finding their youngest sibling.
My Luck stat...!
Just thinking about it made him feel full.
After being designated as a target of his second brother’s bonus stat skill, Level 22 Han Dongju’s stats had become,
[Mana 100, Divine Power 60, Mental Strength 79, Stamina 58, Strength 62, Agility 45, Luck 92]
His Mana had reached the maximum value of 100.
His Luck had risen above 90, all the way to 92.
He was probably among the top three in the entire world.
People think that having a high Luck stat makes you lucky in daily life or improves your chances in lotteries.
Because of that,
hunters were completely banned from buying lottery tickets in every country.
But Luck only affected box-opening results and the probability of avoiding attacks.
It had no effect on other things.
I’m an exception, though.
From the moment Han Dongju awakened at seventeen,
his Luck stat had been 66.
It was extremely rare worldwide for someone’s initial Luck stat to be that high.
I don’t know whether it’s because of that or for some other reason.
Sometimes,
Han Dongju felt a kind of instinctive “feeling” caused by his Luck stat.
This “feeling” was not absolute.
Still,
it had helped him in many situations.
Especially while creating Makdoongi, the device and item meant to locate their youngest sibling.
Several of its nearly impossible-to-obtain materials had been acquired because of his “feeling.”
Please let it work until the very end!
Only two days remained.
Two days until the mana stone refinement finished.
Two days until Makdoongi could finally operate.
Then we can finally meet our youngest sibling...!
Expectation and joy filled his chest until it felt ready to burst.
His throat tightened too.
Feeling like he might actually shed a tear,
Han Dongju hurriedly grabbed the bowl and drank the broth.
“Sir.”
“Yes?”
“The broth really is incredible. Are you seriously never going to tell me how you make it?”
The owner pretended not to hear him while grinning.
Han Dongju deliberately let his shoulders droop as though disappointed.
Then he enthusiastically started eating.
I guess I won’t be able to make it for HunterAnham.
He felt disappointed.
Should I ask her to come here with me next time?
He thought.
+ Chapter 15. Throughout the Duel
The morning of Han Junggeun’s duel with Brazil’s Victor Heide was extremely clear and bright.
I woke up early, ate breakfast using side dishes Han Dongju had prepared, and went to the gym.
“Good morning!”
As always,
my personal trainer, Health King, welcomed me with a huge smile.
I already felt miserable.
Sob....
While I cried internally,
Health King checked my body composition results and raised a thumb.
“Excellent! At this rate, becoming Health Queen is not far away!”
“Yes....”
“You must be taking your supplements properly. Your diet management is excellent too!”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Actually,
it was not.
I took the exercise supplements Health King had recommended.
But I was not managing my diet at all.
Why?
Because hunters don’t need to.
No matter what hunters ate, their bodies processed it in ways that benefited their abilities.
The higher their rank, the stronger that effect became.
That was why I could eat anything I wanted even in the middle of the night.
One of the advantages of being a hunter.
Not getting sick is great too.
Making lots of money was also extremely great.
“You’re becoming Health Queen much faster than I expected. And you’re not even a hunter. Amazing!”
“Right? I’m amazing even though I’m not a hunter, right? Ohohoho!”
“....”
Seeing his speechless expression,
I wondered if my acting had been too exaggerated.
Should I change gyms?
The thought crossed my mind.
He might begin suspecting that I was a hunter.
But I like Teacher Health King....
Even though he sometimes trained me so hard that I felt murderous.
Apparently Wish Guild’s personal trainer is incredibly skilled.
Han Junggeun had told me about him during our special training.
The trainer was an E-rank hunter and buffer who possessed exercise-related skills.
Apparently, those skills make training even more effective.
Actually,
Han Junggeun had also told me,
“HunterAnham may receive personal training from that trainer at any time.”
I had been tempted.
Still,
I refused.
It felt right that only Wish Guild members should use him.
....Should I just join Wish Guild?
Under the current Hunter Association rules,
joining a guild required revealing your personal identity.
But if I pressured the Association President,
he would probably make me an exception.
Hmm.
It was definitely worth considering.
“Judging by that energetic laugh, you must still have plenty of strength left!”
Health King’s eyes sparkled.
“Let’s do one extra set at the end today!”
“No! I don’t think it’ll actually be just one set!”
“No! It really is only one set!”
He was telling the truth.
It really was one set.
The only problem was Health King kept shouting,
“Come on, this is the laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast one!”
for what felt like forever.
I seriously feel murderous....
With that thought,
I gathered my trembling legs, which looked like those of a newborn giraffe, and left the gym.
After eating plenty of protein, meat, at a famous restaurant, I bought five servings of spicy sweet and sour fried chicken and headed home.
“Quack!”
While Twelve enthusiastically ate,
I prepared to go out.
The final thing I took out was the Hidden Power item.
I had used the Upgrade Ticket from the Rank 8 box on it.
It had truly upgraded.
Several new modes had been added.
Today,
I planned to use one of them.
What was it?
